Well, it’s been pissing rain more or less solidly up here in the capital since Sunday morning and, as we all know, there’s nothing like rain to settle the dust. As a result, I suppose it’s worthwhile to shift the debate on from last Saturday’s stinker and instead to place some focus on the very different road that now lies ahead for us in this year’s championship. We all know that (unless you’re Kerry and get a soft draw every single time) the qualifiers are an unqualified pain in the hole. But they’re all we’re now left with, unless, of course, we want to sit back and wait for the FBD World Series final with New York in October so we may as well start to get with the programme. So then, this is what it entails.
The first round of matches take place on Saturday, 26th June (i.e. the day before we would have been playing Galway had we won last Saturday) and we’ll be in the pot with the fifteen other counties who failed to make it to their respective provincial semi-finals. While there are a few tricky customers in there – such as Donegal, Armagh, Derry and Kildare – the likelihood is that we’ll get a softish enough draw in this round to help get us back in the saddle. This was what happened in 2007 when we drew Cavan. The GAA have confirmed that the first round draw will take place live on TV this coming Sunday (13th).
Once the first round has been played, there’s then a two-week break prior to the second round, which will see the eight first round survivors joined by the eight losing provincial semi-finalists. This is where it starts to get interesting, with either Cork or Kerry now in the pot, along with either Meath or the Dubs (assuming the latter beat Wexford this weekend) and maybe even Galway too. If we make it through round one, we’re almost guaranteed a tough match in round two, which is exactly what happened to us in 2007 when we pulled Derry.
Assuming we make it through to the third round (and I, for one, am not assuming anything on that score in advance – I think it’s highly unlikely we will, given our pretty obvious lack of appetite when faced with shit-or-bust contests), we’d then be faced with another humdinger seven days later against one of the other seven survivors from the previous round. If we get through that one, round four awaits a week later, though this should be almost as easy as round one, as it’d involve a clash with a deflated provincial final loser. Then, a week after that again, the next hurdle would be an All-Ireland quarter-final date with one of the provincial champions.
That, hombres, is the match-strewn road that faces us if we are to recover the ground we ceded in such a craven manner the last day in Markievicz Park. The opportunity for a glorious recovery is there, for sure, but only if we have the capability to adopt an entirely different mindset when the opposition – regardless of who they are – throw down the gauntlet to us. I simply can’t see that happening under the current management set-up but, equally, I’d love to be proved wrong on that score. Given the helter-skelter match schedule we now face, we won’t be left waiting too long to find out how far down the road to redemption we’re prepared to go this year.
Fill a glass of brandy and light the cigar. Take a deep breath…good. Now for a bit of housekeeping. History saw this result coming. Cue 1975 for 2010. Same old , same old. Want another bit of history, good. Alan Costelloe scored a few points against the home tribe. He bigged it up amongst the Magpies who have now beaten us for the eight time in 126 years.
Eddie McHale ex Knockmore keeper, ex Mayo sub keeper knocked us out of the 1976 Championship with a goa for Leitriml. Eddie felt no need to come over big, shit happens and time passes. Soon Costelloe will slip into the past, just another Mayo boy who wasnt good enough for his own county.
We have to spend time in this place between the rock and the spot thats hard. We will come out of it but not while John O Mahony is there. Mercy killing is what we need next time out, not another rainbow full of piss. Time to end the charade, time to look at every aspect of Mayo football. Time for big men in a big county to stand up, speak out and lead the purge. Its the Mayo county team we are talking about not some private little club outfit shared between a handful of the in crowd. If we dont this is what history will do….1970-1981…remember that era? I do.
Willie Joe, the Cavan game was in round 2 of the Qualifiers.
This is the first time since the Qualifiers were introduced that we have gone into the hat first time around.
My own wish is for a softish home draw which we win and a tough draw in the second round so that we can see what we are made of. That would be 5 weeks away and a win at such a stage would let us push on a bit and seek some kind of redemption
Agree with ontheroad, this goes deeper than just the management team, how are the county board allowed to get away with impunity time after time? Its a bit like only blaming the bankers for the financial mess the country is in and forgetting totally about who set up the structure for them to operate in.
Personally I cant see this team in its current state putting it up to anyone in an all ireland quarter so while its a defeatist attitude I’d prefer to slope away some Saturday evening with no-one watching on the chicken and chips circuit than embarrase ourselves again over the Sunday roast.
Bad an all as it is for fans sitting at home in Mayo, the rest of us living far away from the plain of the yew in the rest of the country are fecken embarrased meeting friends and neighbours and having to come up with some sort of answer to the all too frequent question “what happened to ye?”
Eastcorkexile, I saw Mayo boys from Belmullet bust a gut on Sunday and Monday for club and family. Likewise with the Kiltane and Ardara boys. What Belmullet and Kiltane served up in intensity and ability never filters up to the county team. Tend to the grass roots, clear out the deadwood and we will replenish…sometime.
Talk about a long and complicated route WJ. Win your next 4 matches and you only get to a poxy quarter final! And let’s be honest the team is not going to win its next 4 anything. It comes down once again to leadership. Who will lead the ship? Where are our men?
I smile now when I think I clicked on Mayo to win the All Ireland. My mouse hovered over Cork but the hope/despair strings tugged once again for Mayo. In a way I am comforted by the knowledge that we won’t win the AI. Lack of doubt is a comforting thing. On the positive side it will be interesting to see who we get in the qualifiers and how far we will go this year. In a way a burden is lifted because no one is pretending or even hoping for an AI. Sam won’t be going to Mayo this year but there may be a few interesting road trips.
Best we can hope for is Laoise to beat Meath & us to redeem ourselves by beating them in the qualifiers.
I find myself changing my mind over where we will go now since sat evening. One minute i’m thinking Johnno will rise them to the last and they will fight like dogs, next i picture myself walking down Mchale road shaking my head after getting beat by Aintrim.
It’s very hard to know how they will react, it will take a fair bit of doin to get them motivated but that certainly is Johnnos job.
I realize this is far fetched and maybe it will sound childish or hopelessly romantic but i really think it would lift supporters anyway, bring back Mac as an impact sub. It would ignite a bit of ” come on Mayo ta f..k” to see him warm up with 25 to go in a game.
Sean Burke-I agree with you-Ciaran should be back on the team, and it would give the Mayo contingent one heck of a boost! Yet, O’Mahoney is stubborn so…
I have to correct you there, Eriad – we definitely started in round 1 of the qualifiers in 2007, because that year we were also beaten in the preliminary round in Connacht (by Galway). That’s the only previous time we’ve had to do so and we didn’t exactly make a good fist of it then.
yeah lads mc donald will change everything…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
yeah lads mc donald will change everything…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Well jj, what ever he could do or he couldn’t do, it is my guess that when Mayo people reflect on our Gaa history it will be looked on as Johnnos biggest mistake and one that proved vital in his downfall. If you cannot replace a star dont drop him, golden rule in all codes of sport imho.
Its not that I don’t appreciate ciaran, he was one of the best,if not the best.To be honest i’m just sick of mayo fans winding out the same crap.When they had him they didn’t appreciate him when he’s gone everybody wants him back.Same old crap.The same goes for them banging on about enda varley,trevor howley,trevor mortimer were the guys to bring success and knocking the likes of aos,c mort and keith higgins.It was as clear as day the likes of varley wouldn’t cut the mustard in the championship.When johnno took over,things had failed time and time again so it was time to clear out,don’t get me wrong c mc at the time was good enough but a fresh start was required. Mayo supporters are great in hindsight.Johnno clearly is not up to it, a good run this year will only delay the inevitable.
Lads lads lads ….. stop. Never mind the embrassing ould chat of qaulifiers and return of mac … this is stupamism it will never happen and we all know we are going nowhere this year. FULL STOP.
I was in Sligo on Saturday evening, that was some of the worst shite I have ever seen a Mayo team play, it was an absolute disgrace because everyone, including the Sligo team knew that if we played to our potential we would have given Sligo a good kicking.
I’m not going to prattle on about players and tactics, thats done to death and an under 10s manager would have spoted some of the obvious changes that should have happened.
Its the mind set thats wrong the apparent apathy, the lack of ambition, the lack of courage both physical and mental, no leadership a sense of forboding when we play lately that we could get our holes kicked by London if they set their mind to it, and almost no confidence or belief … I live in Sligo and weeks before the game I got a vide within the county and from one or two of the players, that Mayo was there for the taking a real strong sense of confidence. Thats down to the management .. to one man Kevin Walsh. What was everyone saying in Mayo from David Brady to Kevin McStay ?? they were asking serious questions about this team … this should not have arisen.
Whats wrong with Mayo teams ? and Mayo county players ? whats wrong with Johno ? – because he is not the manager that managed leitrim, mayo and galway to success all those years ago.. Why can’t mayo teams die for each other the way kerry do in crunch games, Sligo gave us a lesson in it at the weekend. I heard David Drady on news talk last week and he spoke about loosing the AI final in 04 or 06 (can’t remember which) and playing Cross a few weeks later in the club championship he remembers it was one of the most intense games he ever played in, both “teams” doing everything they could have done to win. He noted both teams were packed with county players and he couldn’t understand why this was never on show for the county because if it did things could have been so much different.
I personally believe Johno has to go here I couldn’t agree more with Spailpin on this. That team is young enough not to be wholey effected by 96/97/04/06 they have won stuff. He should be nuturing this talent and belief … I don’t see it, I see more questions and belief drain away from a young team.
P.S. Apologies for rant but I’m seriously disapointed.
Sean I agree 100% with Johnnos mistake.No doubt the sight of Mc Donald warming up would rise the crowd unfortunately you are presuming with 25 left we are still in the game. At the moment and I hope I am WRONG I dont think we will be.Reading above the focus is on who we might get in the draw at the moment any of the teams in the draw would see us as a good draw.The team,management and county board need a good kick up the arse. Last thought one midfielder probably suspended (over rated anyway) the other should not have seen half time what about the two o Shea brothers at midfield in the first round
Ontheroad , did you see anyone at those Comortas games who should be wearing county colours ? you talk about ability and i am convinced there is loads of it in the county, we need a manager now who can convert all this potential.. Time for the county board to find the new messiah…
Hi Ontheroad.
Quick question for you. I’ve heard from a few people that Chris Barrett was the star man at the Comortas over the weekend. Were Belmullet playing on the Saturday? Or Sunday?
Either way, the cynic in me saw something strange in him being ruled out of the Sligo game, and then going on to play out of his skin the very same weekend. Any thoughts?
dan belmullet actually played a semi and the final over the weekend , they beat kiltane in the semi.
“That team is young enough not to be wholey effected by 96/97/04/06 they have won stuff.” Quote from goochcooper. I agree with most of goochs assertions but cast a yellow eye on the above statement. The 1996/97 squad restored the name of Mayo. The 2004-06 debacle undid most of that good work. Trevor, Conor, Gardiner, McGarrity, Dillon, Andy Moran played in both those latter finals, BJP was a sub in 04 , played in 06 with Clarke, K Higgins, Harte, Barry Moran, Kilcoyne. Howley was a sub as was Liam O Malley in 04 and 06. Thats 14 players from that era currently in O Mahonys present squad. You can make a case for each of them as a first teamer. They also played in the worst League final hammering Mayo ever got plus losing to a shit Donegal side in 2007. Now we see how people are codded by this rebuilding bullshit. I dont know what “stuff” they won ever other than a few of them won a U21 All-Ireland. So did players from Limerick, Westmeath, Dublin, Galway, Donegal and Armagh. Thats not a winning mentality, its an aberration bearing in mind we lost four U21 finals, 6 minor finals over two decades, indeed 5 minor finals between 1999-2009. We got serious mental problems and until we start at the top and streamline it from there the 1989-2010 era will be seen as a golden age. Roger Milla what I saw at the 4 days at the Comortas were guys who were prepaired to leave it all on the pitch for the parish. Proud to have seen them. Certainly plenty of them would do no worse than most of who wore the county jersey on Saturday. Belmullets Shane Nallen and Paddy Barrett along with the wasps that Gerry, Chris and Pat Barrett are would not be out of place. Kiltanes Sweeney and Shane Lindsay plus Barrett and John Reilly did well.
Jesus Dan Willie Joe will kill me , I am abusing his cyber space. Let me tell you about Chris Barrett. As honest and as decent a guy that laced boots. Belmullet brought him on v Kiltane after 25 mins in the semi on Sun. He played the full match on Monday at centre back. Like his brother he felt the coller of his opponent for the match. If Chris was ruled out v Sligo then it was a Mayo managerial call. Certainly it was evident that he timed any runs he made and used his experience so I am in no doubt that all cylinders were not in use, but a half fit Chris would have done well on Kelly of Sligo. Much and all as he loves his club he too is an ambitious county man so others made that call. I myself agree with not playing a lad at that level if any injury doubt exists. Dermot Flanagan 1993/1997 anyone?
No problem at all, ontheroad – keep giving it leather! Indeed, given the prescience of your pre-match remarks about the corollaries with 1975, I think it’s more air time you need to be given. Regarding Chris Barrett, I understand that all that was wrong with him on Saturday was a stomach upset he had as a result of something dodgy he’d eaten the day before so I guess there’s no reason that he wouldn’t have been fine to play the following day.
Thanks lads.
Sorry if my comment came out wrong. I wasn’t for a second suggesting Chris was fine for Sligo but pulled out himself. I was actually thinking more the other way, that it was a management call to drop him, and the illness was used as an excuse.
Being from that part of the county myself, and seeing the fecking around BJ Padden has had to put up with, I guess I’m just slightly paranoid when it comes to Erris players in the county panel!
I wouldn’t rush at this stage to defend the management but I doubt very much if there was any hidden agenda in Chris not starting the last day. It would obviously have been far better had he done so (he was one of the few to emerge from the league final with any credit after all) and, when he pulled out, the resultant switches destabilised both the full-back and half-back lines.
Lads have ye read Kevin Mc Stay?
Two interesting points he makes, this is supposed to be a rebuilding exercise over 4 years – all would agree that winning Connacht last year was a logical step in a rebuilding process. 3 years in we’ve won Connacht against Galway in Pearse Stadium showing great fight to score the winning point in the last seconds. Thats progress. What happened in Croker subsequently we all know about.
However, KMCS point is that the team that started yesterday had 9 changes from the Connacht final team – thats not progress, thats the start of a rebuild again. Any maybe thats what was required but it certainly didnt work. Why rebuild after rebuild?
Second point is that he reckons these guys are getting the finest coaching going with access to the finest experts available. The way things are its either the players or the management – the tactical decisions the last day lie at the feet of the management – but alot of us seem to be giving the players a pass. They have to accept responsibility also. A scary thought – Johnno packs in this gig and a few years later is with someone else, lets say Meath be close to the Dail – and suddenly Meath are contenders. I know I’m crystal ball gazing but does anyone think its not possible? Not relevant for now but I just cant understand this malise that appears to have come over them in the last 2 years
After Mayo nobody with serious hopes would look for JOM. Certainly Meath wont. By the way Meath have reached the semi final in 2007 and last year. They are not a million miles off, a bit like Galway 1998 but Johnno wont get the gig and thats for sure.
I’d agree with that conclusion, ontheroad – the only job Johnno will be looking to now is a political one.
Kevin McStay’s points are interesting but I’m not sure I buy the one about the lads getting the best coaching with all these wonderful experts on tap. Is that why they got the bollix run off them in 6 challenge matches over 13 days before the Sligo game? Does this panel of experts include that clown who blurted out a few days before the Meath game that we were the fittest team he’d ever seen?
I think it’s fair to say that the players have to accept a good deal of the responsibility – they’re the ones who are continually failing to perform, after all. But ultimately the buck stops with the management and it seems fairly clear now that this bunch of players are not giving 100% for the current management. Johnno has tried – repeatedly at this stage – to change the players and that hasn’t worked. We now need to move on and see if the other obvious option for change works any better.
Hi Guys ….
Great points made by all over the last few days, as always WJ your blog was my first port of call once I came from Sligo on saturday evening…seriously depressed ….
I was listening to newstalk a couple of weeks ago and David Brady was was doing some post league final analysis…. He said something ( actually he said a lot ) that on reflection coincides with some remarks made earlier … he reflected upon one of the finals 04 /06 and said he could not understand the lack of belief and commitment shown by a lot of his colleagues on the day , and once heads dropped …well there was no turning back . But to that end , and something I found most interesting he said that the following fortnight ballina played crossmolina in a championship game and Brady himself could believe the commitment and heart and effort the guys on both teams exhaulted in comparison to the All Ireland Final couple of weeks previous ! Its a small point I know but what ever you say about management, I honestly felt there was a real lack of heart shown by a lot of the guys in Sligo, and this I feel is saddening and disappointing . To me the Mayo jersey is sacrosanct … ie Mickey Harte and his Tyrone team putting on their jersey simultaneously…
I could be far off here but with heart and passion for the jersey we are dead already ! apologies in advance for the downbeat nature of this post
Just after listening to the Mayo news podcast (as I do every week). It’s the first week mike & the lads have managed to p**s me off. They completely managed to turn around everything they gave said up to now. If I was involved with Mayo football I dint think I’d bother giving the boys an interview again. Sean Rice stated that Kevin McLoughlin was a disgrace. That’s bound to grow a lads confidence!!
I’ve realed in and out of last Saturday and I still havnt come to a conclusion as to what went wrong but what I do know is we are capable of better but it’s beyond me as to why we freeze. I’m hearing all over the place we played as individuals & not a team but from what I seen, no lad wanted to take individual responsibility. No one player wanted to stand up & be counted.
Few things that have come to my head.
1. Has OMahoney addressed Clarkes kickouts? No doubt he’s a top class keeper but kickouts are causing us problems.
2. We started the last day with 5/6 half backs. Have we no corner backs on the county? (note : talked to a former intercounty footballer on Monday who reminded me Liam OMalley got MOTM in U21 final in 04 in Centre half back & hasn’t been tried there since! That’s development!
3. It’s obvious to EVERYONE McGarrity & Parsons are not a partnership. What can Johnno see that is different to everyone else??
4. How can a team that hasn’t played together at all as a unit (starting 15) manage to win their first champo game?
5. If Barry Moran was fit to come on why wasn’t ge fit to start??
6. Mayo news I think got it completely wrong in saying Mayo supporters didn’t show up in Sligo as they have given up on the team. Bullshit, majority of supporters thought we would walk Saturday and decided they would leave it until Galway in Castlebar.
Know my points are a bit mixed up but after that game every position on the pitch is up for grabs. I hope the lads manage to regroup and build a bit of confidence in themselves. I’m hoping for a tough draw in the next round coz if we can overcome that, it will build a bit of belief in heads again. Beating Carlow etc will do nout for us.
Just looking out the window at the Mayo flag which I will leave up until the inevitable boot out the back door. Thankfully I live in hurling country so not a lot of interest in the football. As a Mayoman living in Galway it’s been a horrendous run of humiliating results since 2002 and my return to Ireland from US. In any sport the finger points at the manager when there is no improvement. The team has to be the number one priority of the manager and in my opinion JOM does not have the time and should not have the time given his role as a TD. There are too many other distractions like operation transformation, funerals etc. We need an operation transformation for this Mayo team including the County Board! I get the feeling that the players have lost confidence in JOM and know they are stuck with him. The players should realise that losing is part of the game but how you lose is the important thing. You don’t just give up and stop trying. Pride in the jersey is sadly lacking. Trevor is not captain material. I would give it to Andy Moran but that might be too close to home for JOM. Was at league final and thought that was a bad as it could get. Unfortunately I was very wrong. How low can we go?
I share the same frustration as eveeyone else on here and we all agree that a Mayo team playing to its potential and with fire in its belly should beat Sligo (and most teams) any day of the week.
A lot of us are disillusioned with the reign of John O’Mahoney, so I’m going to attempt to play devils advocate on this one.
Mayo were soundly beaten by Meath last year despite optimism within the county that we would account for them. Following the defeat, wholesale changes were demanded by most observers.
This year JOM attempted to build a new team and stuck with a consistent selection policy throughout the league attempting to forge a unit. Our half back line was particularly impressive with surging runs from defence, while SOS was doing well in midfield. Varley was also a notable addition.
Then as ever, when optimism began to emerge, Cork beat the crap out of us and all the old failings re-emerged. Once again wholesale changes were demanded and promptly delivered.
JOMs single failing is getting a team that will die for the jersey. We have a serious lack of leadership amongst the players and that to me is the single most tellling factor. When games are there to be won thats where character comes in. Is that just natural to certain people or is it instilled from a management figure? You need leaders in the middle third and outside of Andy Moran, I can’t think of Mayo possessing one.
Mayo have no MEN. And when I say that I think of Darragh O’Shea, Kevin Walsh, Brian Dooher, Seán Cavanagh, Graham Canty, Anthony Lynch, the McEntee’s, Paul Galvin. Mayo have produced them, Heaney, Nallen, Kilgallon, Padden, Horan, McMenamin.
Where are they now?
Agreed. When was the last time a Mayo defender commited a really bad,dirty cynical foul.
Aswers on a postcard to …
Do they ever even get booked?
When was the last time a Mayo defender actually defended properly is the more appropriate question. Willie Joe is correct on reminding us of the crap about being the fittest team in Ireland last year.North Mayo has made a point that for all my mouthing I forgot to make and have intended to make for ages, what exactly is Clarke up to with those booming , hanging kickouts that give the opposition an equal chance of fetching or breaking the ball?. But do you know something? we keep asking questions, most are legitimate. The ones that should be asking and getting the answers are the county board. We were humiliated in 2006 with the haste that Mickey Moran was shown the door after a league semi-final, a Connacht championship, an epic win v Dublin and an All-Ireland appearence inside 12 months. We have roamed like a bobbing cork for the last 48 months.Time for them to roast a few balls over the coals and better….shag off themselves.
Well done to all the posters on the site, very passionate and well informed comments. Fair play to you wj for providing a platform to help soothe our badly bruised pride and morale after saturday’s latest train wreck. It’s very diffifficult to salvage anything positive from what happened on saturday and I like most of you i feel a sense of deep disappointment bordering on despair. I genuinely had high expectations for the year ahead, because of the decent league campaign, I thought there was stiff competition for places, and figured this would make for competitive training sessions and fellas chomping at the bit to get on the c’ship team. I also thought that the (percieved) quality on the bench would have the lads on the field bursing a gut to avoid being called ashore.
So, what in the hell has gone wrong to put the whole setup into freefall? I think the knowlegeable green and red blog community have their fingers on the pulse and I would agree with many of the contributions. The points I most agree with are:
1. There must be trouble in the camp and the players, or a clique of them, are at odds with the manager. This fissure is most likely to have occurred in the run up to the league final and has lasted ever since.
2. We do not have on-field leaders, with the exception of Andy the last day, so when things start to go wrong, players tend to hide, pass the buck, and go through the motions without conviction.
3. The plethora of challenge matches hindered progress, perhaps a V b matches ala kerry (or kk in the hurling) might have been more productive
4. The screw up with the planned training camp must have pissed a lot of people off, undermined confidence and thrown plans into disarray
5. We underestimated sligo, they are a fine side, with loads of talented players and, most importantly, kw has them eating out of his hand without fear and brimming with determination. Our lads confidence is a brittle as a layer of ice after an hour of frost
6. I defended trev’s right to start, based on the absence of alternative leaders, and the mistaken hope that he would step up to the plate, alas I was wrong
7. The spine of the team is simply not strong enough, especially 6,8,9,11 the last day ( well done no14 on such a fine debut)
8. Walsh demonstrated much more tactical nous than johnno on the day, we should have utilised higgins or mcloughlin as free men in the 1st half to carry the game to sligo and create overlaps
9. Rehabilitation is possible, but not likely, in the qualifier route. A soft draw in the next round might give us enough fragile self belief to give a game to one of the stronger teams, but unless something radically happens in the next couple of weeks, we will crash out dismally heralding the end of the second coming
10. However, sport is sport, anything is possible and hope must never be lost completely, each game is 70 mins and anything can happen!!!
Let’s stick together regardless and don’t show the white feather!!!
Some great post lads , can someone enlighten me on the qualifier rules ? if we were to get through this first round and sligo were to fall to galway could we meet them in round 2 ?
As far as I know Roger, we’re not allowed play Sligo again in the qualifiers. I’m open to correction on that though, but I’d be about 99% sure!
Yes, according to gaa.ie
“Each of the eight teams defeated in the provincial semi-finals
shall play against one of the eight winners from Round 1.”
Chris Barrett had food poisoning at the weekend, was not fully up to it Saturday but is the type to give 100% no matter how he feels. I think its unfair to try to attach any blame to him for Saturday’s debacle.
Belmullet junior team played Ballycastle, senior team played Kiltane and Ard a’ Ratha – host club gets a bye into the Comortas semi final.
WJ congrats on this site. Excellent stuff.
I have to ask are we looking at the right things as we attempt to rationalise what has happened on our last three importsbnt games (Meath, Cork & Sligo). Managment and players have to take responsibility but the problems are much wider. County board, underage structure, coaching approach, lack of planning, polictical back slapping involved in mayo football etc etc.
Until everyone and everything involved in team preparation is of the highest order and trying their best for the team (instead of self glorification) we will continue to fail…
Hear…hear. Spot on.